Psalm - 12

Psalm - 12

Introduction

In 1 Kings 17, wicked King Ahab has just taken over the throne of Israel. The Bible describes that he does evil more than anyone who came before him (1 Kings 16:30). On top of that, he marries a pagan named Jezebel and begins to worship her false god, Baal.

1 Kings 16:33b - Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

In response to his evil, God sends word of a drought through the prophet Elijah. After the miracle for the widow of Zarephath and then raising her son from the dead, God sends Elijah to confront Ahab regarding his wicked ways.

1 Kings 18:17-19 - 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.”

On top of Mt. Carmel Elijah confronts the Israelites for their disobedience to God and proposes a test. He will build an altar to God while the prophets of Baal build on to him. Whichever God answers with fire is the one, true God and the people will commit to worship that God. Elijah has the prophets of Baal go first.

1 Kings 18:25-29 - 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

Now it is Elijah’s turn. He builds the altar and places the bull on it. He digs a trench and has them dump crazy amounts of water on it.

1 Kings 18:36-40 - 36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

God then sends rain on the land in a showing of thorough defeat. Listen though to what happens next.

1 Kings 19:1-4 - Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

He eventually flees to Mt. Horeb. There, God will meet with him. Pay close attention to Elijah’s words:

1 Kings 19:9-18 - 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

TS - Elijah has just dominated in this battle over the prophets of Baal. Yet a threat from one woman sends him running. And how does he feel in this moment? Utterly alone. I am the only one left. Everyone else has forsaken the Lord and is wicked. Only I stand with the Lord still. Now, it wasn’t true, but it certainly felt that way. God always has a remnant who are faithful. 7,000 Israelites have remained faithful to the Lord. Elijah is not alone. This issue of feeling alone, even when you’re not, is the core message of Psalm 12.

Psalm 12:1-8 - Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the Lord;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them;

you will guard us from this generation forever.

8 On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

The superscript tells us that David is the author of this psalm. One small note…there is no personal language here. No I, Me, or My. David’s prayer is centered on the others, not on something specific he is caught up in. Once again, we cannot pinpoint any specific historical context. The scholars list the usual suspects…perhaps when Saul was trying to kill David, because Saul whipped up lies against David. Or perhaps during Absalom’s rebellion since the rebellion was built upon all the lies that Absalom spread around the kingdom to gain his alliances. But we cannot know for sure. And since we cannot pin down the exact context, this psalm feels a bit more universal and timeless in scope. And rightly so, as we deal with this very issue still today.

One intriguing point was brought out by one commentator…he thinks these liars and braggarts are within David’s own royal court. They are buttering him up for their own selfish gain. David is stuck in the middle of all the madness and is growing weary. These issues certainly seemed to be present in King Solomon’s court, as he addressed these issues regularly in the Proverbs:

Proverbs 26:28 - 28 A lying tongue hates its victims,

and a flattering mouth works ruin.

Proverbs 28:23 - 23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor

than he who flatters with his tongue.

Proverbs 29:5 - 5 A man who flatters his neighbor

spreads a net for his feet.

Regardless of the context, we resonate with David’s cry here. He looks around at a once God-fearing society that was built upon God’s own law and it is now crumbling. He feels utterly alone in his faithfulness. The Psalm easily divides into two equal parts. David’s Prayer for Help and God Promise to Help.

DAVID’S PRAYER FOR HELP (V. 1-4)

v. 1 - Save, O Lord…this is a striking imperative. Coming right out of the gate, David seeks God’s direct help. Again, as we’ve seen before, ‘save’ is not referring to eternal salvation, but to rescue or deliverance from the crisis at hand.

Why does God need to rescue? Two parallel reasons are given:

The godly one is gone // faithful have vanished Godly and faithful are synonyms referring to those who can be trusted to keep their word. The context of the psalm as a whole makes the case for that.

‘Faithful’ is a passive participle, clearly bringing the idea of those who are reliable or trustworthy.

Related to the Hebrew word for ‘truth.’

Psalm 15:1-2 - O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right

and speaks truth in his heart;

All those in the land that I can trust, that are faithful to their word, who trust in and follow the Lord…they are all gone. Vanished without a trace. All that will leave in the nation is a culture that is oppressive and dangerous. This seems like a fitting conclusion to Psalm 10 and 11. Remember in Psalm 10, we are introduced to the words of the wicked.

Psalm 10:3-7 - 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

5 His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

Psalm 11 tells us that the wicked were destroying the foundations…the very moral fabric of society.

it seems like they are winning. Now in Psalm 12 we are told that the arrows of the wicked have taken out all the godly and faithful.

vanished…from the children of man. He will use that phrase 2x (here and in v. 8). It is a universal statement. So the faithful and godly aren’t just gone from Israel, but from everywhere. How could he know that? Well, if Israel is struggling with this, and they are God’s covenant people, where does that leave the pagan nations without God and without his law? He underscores this universality of the issue in v. 2…

v. 2 - Everyone…that is about as universal of a word that you can use. And this ungodliness and unfaithfulness in the land looks like sins of the tongue, sins of speech. And though it seems like the godly have gone, the wicked have increased. Everyone.

Lies…this is an interesting word in Hebrew. It would literally be translated as ‘vain’ or ‘vanity.’ It means ‘empty.’ This is a word that describes words with a false purpose or deception.

Describes false gods in

Jonah 2:8 - 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols

forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Psalm 127:1-2 - Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

2 It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

it is vain, a falsehood, to think that you can do this on your own. Only God can grant these things. So all the conversations being had in the land are either empty or dishonest. They have no good purpose. Everyone lies.

To his neighbor…so this isn’t just happening from people towards their enemies. This is happening among even the closest of relationships. That how pervasive these lies have become. It is everywhere.

with flattering lips…this goes a step further than merely lying. This adds the element of evil motive. Again, this is what Solomon was teaching against in the Proverbs. The word for ‘flatter’ literally translates as ‘smooth.’ These are people who tell you what you want to hear in the name of gaining something for themselves. Double heart they speak…this now gets to the root of the problem. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The righteous speak from a reservoir of righteousness. The wicked speak from the reservoir of wickedness. So the issue isn’t really their speech. The problem is their heart.

They are saying one thing but their heart means another. From a deceptive heart, their words mislead and manipulate.

v. 3 continues the prayer and asks God to act specifically.

Cut off…this is obviously not a literal request. Cutting off lips and tongues doesn’t solve the problem of a sinful heart. This past Sunday I referenced Jesus’ famous commands in Matthew 5 to gouge out your eye and cut off your hand if they cause you to sin. Jesus is obviously using hyperbole there. Sadly, some throughout history have tried to interpret Jesus’ words literally there. The early church father, Origen, famously cut off his penis to solve his problem with lust. It didn’t work. Lust is a sin of the heart first and foremost.

Could this mean excommunication? Cut them off…send them out. This most likely means what it clearly references, and is common in the Psalms…destroy them. They care causing damage. They are a threat. Flattering lips and tongues…a reference to the whole persons who are committing these sins, not their body parts.

ILL - when captain of a ship says ‘All hands on deck.’ He isn’t referring to their hands. He means the persons are to report for work. Tongue that makes great boasts. Boasting in the outward expression of the inward pride of the heart.

This calls back to Genesis 11 when mankind gathered in the Plain of Shinar, later to be renamed Babylon, to build a Tower at Babel. They declare they want to build this monument to their own greatness. Because they think they deserve to be up in the heavens with God. Humanity’s tongue has always made great boasts.

James 3:2-12 - 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

v. 4 is one of those great boasts…

With our tongue we will prevail…’prevail’ here means ‘powerful.’ It is used in Psalm 45:3 of a strong and mighty warrior. There is nothing that can stand in the way of this smooth talk and blowhard boasting. Our lips are with us…meaning, our lips belong to us. We can say whatever we want and get away with it. No one can stop us. Go back to Ps. 10:

Psalm 10:3-7 - 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

5 His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

who is master over us? This is the issue of issues right here. We answer to no one, not even God. We are successful. We are powerful. Therefore there is an unwillingness to submit to any form of authority. The wicked cast off all restraints and live however they choose. When such arrogance is joined with deception and a willingness to mislead for personal gain, there is no limit to the destruction they can cause.

David has done all he can do. He is alone. He is outnumbered and overwhelmed. Everyone around him is a liar, deceiver, and wickedly arrogant. They refuse accountability and boast of their wickedness. All David can do is cry out to God to Save! And he does…

GOD’S PROMISE TO HELP (V. 5-8)

Now we come to verse 5, which is the focal point of the entire psalm.

v. 5 - I will now arise, God says. This is incredibly rare. It is only the second psalm so far where God speaks (Psalm 2). It is the first psalm where God directly responds to and answers the prayer that is offered.

Instead of telling us about his confidence that God will answer, he is so confident in that conclusion that he offers God’s words for him. Arise…we have already seen this word numerous times (3:7; 7:6; 9:19; 10:12). Now God himself uses the same word…a call the battle. God is now rising up in active defense of his people and active attack against the enemy.

Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan…again, a reference to the vulnerable in society. We saw that in Psalm 10:9,10,14 referring to the poor, the helpless, and the fatherless. I will NOW arise…a divine turning point. God now goes from patience and forbearance to active deliverance, which is exactly what David prayed for when he cried out for God to ‘save.’

I am reminded of Exodus 3 when God speaks to Moses in the burning bush regarding the Israelites in slavery in Egypt.

Exodus 3:1-10 - Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

God now rises to act to place the vulnerable in the safety for which he longs…’longs’ is literally ‘breathe out’ or ‘pant.’ They are crying out for deliverance from the tyranny and the deception of those around them. God hears.

v. 6 describes God’s words. In contrast to the boastful, empty, deceptive words of the wicked, God’s words are true and trustworthy.

They are pure words. Pure is a callback to the ceremonial laws God laid out in the OT. Sacrifices were to be pure, meaning they were without flaw or defect. Like silver refined in a furnace…referred last week to smelting, the heating up of a precious metal to rid it of impurities. The impurities (dross) rises to the surface and is skimmed off, leaving a more pure metal.

Furnace on the ground…likely reference to a furnace made of clay. How many times is the silver purified? seven. The number of perfection. So God’s words are pure, they are the purest of pure.

Not meaning that God’s words used to have hints of impurity and had to be filtered. But that God’s words are already like the finished product of perfect purification. No impurities at all. Notice that David does not tell us about how he feels about God’s words. He offers to us the proven facts about God’s word. It is true and trustworthy. It is clear, direct, true, reliable.

John 17:17 - 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

remember, there is a difference between ‘true’ and ‘truth.’ Something is true when it aligns with truth. Example…if I drop my bible it will fall to the floor. How do we know that is a true statement? Because it align with the factual truth of gravity. Jesus did not say that God’s word was true (though it is). It is truth. It is the standard by which we discover what is true and false.

Psalm 19:7-11 - 7 The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

in a world such as David describes, it is a conform to know that God’s word is trustworthy when everyone else around you is lying.

v. 7 - he now turns and addresses God directly again with more words of confidence. Because God’s word is pure, promises become expectations.

Keep/guard - notice he did not say that God would remove them from the scenario. But that God would preserve them. Keep - lit. Preserve. The noun associated with this verb is used to refer to prisons and guards.

Psalm 121:1-8 - I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

8 The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

from this generation…not just referring to people who happen to live at the same time, but to those who share the ‘spirit of the age.’ They think the same, they feel the same. And how does David describe his generation? With arrogance and deception.

v. 8 - another reminder that God has not removed them from the generation. The wicked prowl on every side. They aren’t gone yet. But the tone of the psalm has changed. Again, we have noticed this before in other psalms, and will continue to see it…the circumstances have not changed, David has changed. He has gone before the Lord and asked for help, confidently knowing God will answer. So now instead of fearing or withdrawing from the wicked world, he faces it with the Lord’s help.

Vileness is exalted…’vile’ is word for ‘worthless’ or ‘shameful.’

the generation David lived in exalted the worthless. That was most important. But even more important is the God has promised to rescue. He will arise to help.

Application

James 1:27 says that religious that God accepts is helping the vulnerable in distress and keeping oneself from being polluted by the world. Psalm 12 addresses both. God is stepping in to help the vulnerable. The issue for us is how do we live in a polluted world, a generation no different from David’s, yet keep ourselves unstained. This psalm was entrusted to the choirmaster so that future generations could heed the warning David offers here. But future generations did not learn from the current one. Israel’s prophets condemned the nation for its wicked culture of lies.

Hosea 11:12-12:1; Isaiah 59:4; Micah 6:12; Jeremiah 5:1-2 True believers are always in the minority. How do you stay unstained by the world? Never follow the majority.

Jesus said the gate to eternal life is narrow and way to get there is narrow. Poor and needy - believers are typically numbered in this group. And the church typically flourishes in this group.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 -26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. Still today…church is thriving in the global south and east. Not the influential and affluential west. When we talk about faithfulness, we tend to think of it in doctrinal terms (and we should!). but David means it in terms of lifestyle here. These people were saying good-sounding things, but their hearts were far from God. We are called to be reliable and trustworthy. Nothing will destroy Christian relationships faster than lies. Deceit produces distrust. Distrust produces division.

Ephesians 4:25 - 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. God has his own timetable. He rose to deliver Israel from Egypt…after 425 years. We don’t know how long God’s people had been struggling in Psalm 12. In a world of deception, only God’s word can be trusted. You may not like what it says, but it is trustworthy and true.

The atheist philosopher Voltaire famously said, “In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.” That same year the British Museum purchased a Bible manuscript from Russia for over $500,000, while a copy of Voltaire’s writing sold in the market for $.08. Fifty years later the house where Voltaire wrote those words was now the headquarters of the Geneva Bible Society. Why? No one and nothing can stop God and his word.